...as part of a new Channel 4 art programme

Jimmy Carr might torch a painting by Adolf Hitler in a new Channel 4 art show.

The broadcaster has bought the piece – as well as other  artworks by other problematic artists including Pablo Picasso, Rolf Harris and sexual abuser Eric Gill – and will let a studio audience decide whether they should be destroyed or not.

The vote will be taken after a debate on whether you can separate the art from the artist in the one-off show entitled Jimmy Carr Destroys Art.

Ian Katz, Channel 4’s director of programming, told journalists  that if the studio audience chose to save the painting by Hitler it would not hang in the Channel 4 boardroom but would be ‘appropriately’ disposed of.

He added that this was not the sort of programme that could be made if the government went ahead with its proposed privatisation of Channel 4.

He said: ‘This kind of programming is difficult and expensive. And probably not a rational, commercial approach.’

Katz also said that the increasingly competitive broadcasting landscape made it tougher for companies to take risks on  comedies such as Stath Lets Flats or We Are Lady Parts.

‘I could put true crime on in just about every slot and probably have double the ratings,’ he said.

• Jimmy Carr Destroys Art is on Channel 4 at 9.15pm on October 25.

Published: 13 Oct 2022